The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-06-15
Why Art Thou Disquieted!
By REV. MARVIN r. VINCENT, ID. II

BY REV. MARVIN r. VINCENT, ID. u.
If YOU cannot, on inquiry, discover
that sin is at the bottom of your dis
uuietude, it may occur to you that GOD
has sent it. 1t is not unlike him to
disouiet those whom he loves some
times in the way of discipline. You
are i'm affliction, it may he, and in the
despondencv which affliction brings
with it. WHY art thou disquieted, my
soul? God knew of this aff1iction. did
he not? He could have averted it.,
could he note Yes, and yet he suffer
ed it to fall. If, then, he intended 1t
for thee, O soul, why art thou dlsqui-
eted? Thou art satisfied that the
source of thy trouble is divine; is that
something to be disquieted about? Or
dost thou fear it will be more than
thou canst bear? Oh, reflect that the
Father is the husbandman. He is
pruning thee that thou mightest bring
forth more fruit. Shall the knife IN
thy Fathers hand cut off more than it
is best thou shouldst lose for thine own
growth's sake. Why art thou disqui-
eted. nv soul? Dost thou think thou
art an exception in thy trial? Dos!
thou forget Him who was made per-
feet through suffering, and who was in
all points tempted and tried like as
thou art? Why art thou disquieted e?
Is it because thou canst not see the
end thy God has in view in thy trial,
or wilt thou forget that this eight af-
Fiction, which is but for a moment,
worketh out for thee far more eX-
ceeding and eternal weight of glory ?'
The basis of the more popular form
of a goddess philosophy in these mod
ern times, is the assumption that
"happiness" is the legitimate pursuit
of mankind. Yet it is truth of truths
that "happiness," in the sense in
which that term is employed by the
goddess philosophers, and in which,
indeed, it is porularly understood, IS
not legitimate pursuit OF mankind.
The best lives in this world, the no.
blest lives, the grandest lives. are lives
which are not happy-as the world
understands happiness; and 1t is clear
ly unworthy of true man to make
happiness, as such. prime object of
pursuit for himself, or of desire for
those who are dear to him. "Happi-
ness" as it is ordinarily reckoned, is q
condition of feeling; it is, in fact, de-
fined in the dictionaries as "the agree
able sensations which spring from the
enjoyment of good'-of good as meas
ured by ones selfish, or ones selfiiy
standards: as ''that state of being IN
which his desires are gratified by the
enjoyment of pleasure a0ithoW pam. ]"
And the popular estimate of happiness
is Indicated in the proverbial simile.
"As happy as clam at high water"-
as happy as mere conscious freedom
from discomfort or danger can make
one. What standard this is, for a
sensible and responsible being in such
a universe as ours! Would you tell q
soldier, on his entering the army of
his country, that the object of his
army life should be happiness? Yet
the highest conception of heroic life
is the soldiers standard. Trust ana
obedience are the soldiers true aim
be the consequences to him or to his
what they may. And faith and faith
fulness are the Christians true aim in
life-whether his feelings, or his seesa-
tions, are agreeable or disagreeable.
Indeed, the term "happiness," as the
Bible employs it, is primarily indica-
tive of the happenings" to a man in
the line of his duty as man; it is
that which comes to him i'm his Mas
ter's ordering. Happy is the man
whom God correcteth." "Happy is
the man that feareth alway." Ihdt
sort of happiness is not what goddess
philosophers, nor sinners generally,
are longing after; but there is no 9TH
er kind of happiness which O Chris
tan soldier should be living for. In
stead of wishing to be happy, or of
wishing others to have happiness, we
should wish for ourselves and for 9TH
ers full measure of trustfulness and
of trustworthiness, of duty doing and
of trial enduring in all loving trust in
Him whose we are and whom we
serve. That is an objective aim more
worthy of a rational and an immortal
being, than is any subjective mood: or
state of feeling, or condition of being.
"Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy
is he"-even when he is most unhap-
py, as the world judges happiness.